Meet Joe Black (1998)

What a long movie. I have nothing whatsoever against longer movies; however, there are times when it is unnecessary. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances. A rather beautiful story that follows a media mogul approaching death and his daughter's relationship with a man she met from a coffee shop. The curve that is thrown is that the man, a charming and charismatic young fellow, is killed after he says goodbye to the mogul's daughter. What comes after death? Regarding this movie, the better question is to ask what comes before death?

Bill Parrish, the media mogul played by Anthony Hopkins, is neither dislikable nor likable, so immediately there is a dilemma regarding character development. Perhaps the face that people have come to associate with the psychotic cannibal Hannibal Lecter is not one that should be used in a film where we have to believe the father is a noble and charming person who has led a complete life. This is my only complaint, and it can be dismissed. The man in the coffee shop, played by Brad Pitt, does have and immediate clumsy charm about him once he appears on the screen. His little flirty interaction with Susan Parrish, Bill's daughter, is brief but heartfelt by two young people seeking love and company. As the two leave (we notice that they didn't even introduce themselves), they look back at each other several times, unfortunately missing eye contact on each turn back. The man realizes he must do something, only to be struck down by a taxi. Oh what could have been.

The movie then takes a regretful turn as the story heads back to Bill's business life. Unexpectedly, the man from the coffee shop enters Bill's life, but it is not the same man that Susan fell for. Instead, it is death personified by the man, coming for Mr. Parrish. In exchange for guidance, death gives Parrish more time. The seemingly singular reason as to why Bill does not want to leave the world behind is the reputation of his business as his own. Death personified, who we come to call Joe Black, leads an awkward existence as he sticks by Parrish's side for a majority of the movie, including when Bill needs to handle business. As Bill realizes that he has been mutinied, he accepts his fate as he declares he is ready for death. Joe Black somehow manages to restore the business under Parrish's name before the witching hour. So why was the glacially slow storyline of the business necessary?

I would say that the only significant part of the Joe Black-Bill Parrish storyline is Joe's interaction with Susan. Don't get me wrong, this is the a very significant part of the story, one that movies are made of. Joe, or death, learns little from his interaction with Bill; however, he learns to love Susan. This love that cannot be teaches Joe a lesson of life as he debates on whether or not to take Susan with him, a sort of Hades-Persephone relationship with mutual affection. However, in the end, Joe doesn't condemn Susan to the afterlife through love, because true love is limiting one's needs to satisfy the partner's needs. As death learns this lesson and takes Bill's life, he returns the man in the coffee shop to Susan, an ultimate sign of love. Since death could not live with Susan, he did the one thing he could do to make her life happy. Conclusion: Worth A Watch

Rating: 7.5/10

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan is a celebration of superb cinematic prowess. It features everything in a great film: strong character development, recognition of the past, entertainment, special effects intended to create a better viewing experience, and a powerful story.

I'm sure that many people remember the cinematic year of 1998. Cinema managed to put a slew of excellent movies on the screen, highlighted by Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful, which both observed the past. The travesty that I don't think the Academy can ever redeem itself for is that neither film won Best Picture. Instead nine Oscars were inexplicably handed to the cast and crew of Shakespeare in Love. I'm not going to sit here and knock on that terrible movie in this post. Instead, I am going to convince why this was a travesty and why exactly it was committed. 

Steven Spielberg's second best film had his directorial hand's fingerprints all over it. Effects added to a better visual experience and strong acting performances by Tom Hanks and Matt Damon made it possible for the audience to have an emotional connection and sympathize with the soldiers. The idea of a group of men risking their lives to save one man creates a story full of key decisions that all guide to the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal of this film was to remind us all of sacrifice, especially the sacrifice made by the men who fell on the beaches of Normandy.

Perhaps the film did too great of a job reminding the audience about D-Day. Survivors who attended the premiere in theaters left in tears after the opening scene due to its gratuitous violence which created the most realistic reenactment of the battle ever set to film. Due to the general knowledge of the graphic violence, many people were drawn away from watching the film altogether. Including members of the Academy. This is the first step where they went wrong. The next fatal flaw was that members of the audience watched Gwyneth Paltrow's Shakespeare in Love. Paltrow's father, a member of the Academy, showed the movie to many other people in order to promote his daughter. And hey, it worked.

Saving Private Ryan should have won Best Picture. There is nothing the Academy can do to redeem itself now; however, we can all do the film and our history its due justice by watching this masterpiece. Conclusion: Must See

Rating: 9.5/10